Refrigerating apparatus



Jan; 7, 1936. c. w. voe-r REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Ilay 2, 1934S'Sheets-Sheet 1 SNN f IUIIIIIIIII vl. H HUHHHHIIIli Jan. 7, 1936. C, w,VOGT 2,027,256

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed May` 2, 19:54` 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 \i fINVENTR waren@ f1/off BY 1L .ATTORNEYS Jan. 7, 193s.

- Filed May 2,

c. w. voe-r REFRIGERATING APPARATUS 1 954l 5 sheets-sheet 4 INVENTORATTORNEYS Jan.' 7, 1936. v Q VQGT Y 2,027,256

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed May 2, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 FITS. il ff@o 4? 'ATTQRNEYS Patented Jan. 7, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEBEFRIGERATING lAPPARATUS 'Y Clarence W. Vogt, Louisville, Ky., assignorto Vogt Processes, Incorporated, Louisville, Ky.,

a corporation of Delaware Application May 2, 1934, Serial No. '123,454

12 claims. (ci. i2- 114) This invention relates to apparatus forchangingthe temperature oi a gaseous medium and for subjecting articlesor material .to the action of said medium during the advancing of thematerial or articles through the treating chamber.

The specific embodiment hereinafter described was designed for hardeninglong peripherally wrapped bars oi.' plastic ice cream or the like, whichare conveyed in parallelism -through a hardening'chamber and which maylater be cut vinto short sections such as those disclosed and claimed inmy prior Patent 1,906,183, issued April 'I'he invention provides ahighly eftlcient, com- 4 l5 Pact hardening apparatus to eii'ect completehardening of such bars or other material by passing an intensely coldstream of air aboutthem as they are continuously advanced by theconveyer. The invention further involves the provision oi arefrigerating unit in the path of the circulating air, and so arrangedthat itv assures uniform and efdcient cooling of the circulating stream,yet opposes but minimum resistance to air ow. v 2;, An object of theinvention is to provide a compact unit consisting of a substantiallyenclosed chamber in which refrigeratingpipes are located together withmeans fory circulating a current of air in a substantially closed cycleover the pipes and about the material to be chilled or hardened,

the refrigerating pipes themselves being so arranged that they insurechilling of every part of the air current and afford a maximum area ofheat transfer surface with respect to the air ilow resistance which theyoffer.

Another object is to provide a compact arrangement of sectional pans forcatching the drip'or falling ice from the pipes during dei'rostingoperations and to so design the apparatus that defrost-- ing andsubsequent removal and dumping of thev pans may be accomplished duringthe normal and the continuous operation of the conveyer and the freezingnof the bars. Y

Another object is to provide an apparatus in 4'5 which the unwrappedexposed ends of the ice cream bars are protected from a direct blast oicold air 4and 4thus dehydrated to the minimum extent.-

Another object is to provide sectional drip pans l whichcover arelatively large area beneath the cooling pipesand the sections soconstructed that they maybe conveniently withdrawn separately g andemptied, eventhough the `walls of thehardening room closely encompass'the actual hardening chamber.

Another object is to provide means for quickly separatingV drip panswhich have been frozen together so that the pans may be independentlyremoved.

The' invention maybe more fully understood 5 from the `followingdescription in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:-

. Fig. 1 is a top plan view of an apparatus embodying the invention, Y

Fig.'2 is a transverse section therethrough on 1Q' the line 2-2 of Fig.1,

Fig. 3 is a broken longitudinal sectional view taken approximately onthe lin'e, 3 1 of Figs.

1 and 2, v

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the pans, 15 Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverseVsectional detail `on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, 4

Fig.` 6 is a similar view 'on .the line 6--6 of Flg.4, Fig. 7 is anenlarged sectional plan detail onthe line l-l of Fig. 6, 20

Fig.,8 is a plan view of the refrlgerating pipes and headers, and

tirely conned within the walls. of a hardening '3'0y room which, need beofbut little greater height, width or length than the apparatus which Ihave shown, it being of course desirable to restrict thedimensions ofthis hardening chamber as much as possible and thereby mininize thetotal amount 35 of air which needs to be maintainedat the propertemperature, typically in the order of f-30 F'.

In the drawings I have shown a frame structure consisting of an elevatedrectangular frame I0 supported at its corners on four legs Il.` The 40legs may be braced at I2- if desired and the frame Ill may be'bracedby adiagonal bracing means I3.

suitably.4 supported in inclined position substantially within theconiines of the legs ll is an air circulating chamber which includes aceiling 45 plate I4 and a iloor plate I5.' `One side of this chamber isclosd by fan casings I6 for housing the fans Ia, and at its oppositeside the` chamrality of the fans mounted on the same shaft, but

spaced apart so that each fan draws in air at its opposlteends anddelivers it from the periphery. 55

The oor plate l5 may be mounted upon fore and aft extending inclinedangle iron supports I 9 and the ceiling plate is preferably suspended byhangers 29 from cross pieces 2| secured at their ends to opposite sidesof the main rectangular frame I9.

'I'he elongated enwrapped bars of ice cream 22 are carried through thelower portion of the air circulating chamber and in an up-hill directionby a conveyer of the general character disclosed in copendingapplication Serial No. 678,624, filed July 1,- 1933. This conveyerincludes'a plurality of elongated trough-like bar carriers 23 preferablyof highly heat conductive material and having projecting radiating fins24 on their under or convex surfaces. The ends of the troughs carrybrackets 25having rollers 26 and connected by chain links 21 in suchfashion thatthe individual troughs are retained substantially in lateralabutment as they travel in a direction transverse to their lengththrough the cooling chamber.

A trackway is provided to support the conveyer mechanism, and includes apair of inclined rails 28 disposed laterally of and just below the bodyportion of the floor plate l5 (Fig. 2) so that the troughs 23 traveljust above the floor plate as v they pass through the air circulatingchamber.

The trackway .also includes a pair of inclined trackways 29 forsupporting the idling run of the endless conveyer as the empty troughstravel along in inverted position back to the point whereA -guide 32until they reach a point' below the sprocket wheels and then drop out.They may drop directly through or be conveyed to a suitable cuttermechanism (not shown) for subdividing them into shorter lengths.

The air circulating chamber is divided into a relatively deep upperportion and a relatively shallow lower portion by a partition member 35inclining at the samey angle as the ceiling plate and iioor plate ofthechamber and formed of e any suitable material such as woodenboards orother insulators 36 which may be supported on suitable cross members 31which are vcarried by angle irons 38, the boards if desired beingcovered 'with a removable -top plate 39.

The space between the partition 35 and the ceiling plate I4 accommodatesthe cooling pipes. This space is provided with generally Avertical walls33 and 34 at the forward upper end and the rear lower end, both wallsterminating closely adjacent to or in contact with said partition 35.

The arrangement of the cooling pipes constitutes one feature of theinvention, these pipes being so arranged that they afford uniformcooling of all of the air passing between the partition 35 and theceiling plate i4 under the inuence of the fans. and at the same timeoffer a minimum impedance of air ow.

By inclining the working run of the conveyer the cooling pipes may besimilarly inclined at a uniform distance from the conveyer and thepartition, and gravity utilized to maintain the refrigerant flow. Thepipes may constitute part of a flooded ammonia reirigerating systemwhich includes an elongated receiver 40 supported in elevated positionand outwardly beyond the upper end of the air' circulating chamber onsuitable brackets 4l-carried by the main frame. The liquid level of thevolatile refrigerant, such as ammonia, in this ,receiver is maintainedby a float controlled chamber 42 of conventional type, the

two chambers being connected by pipes 43 and 44. The liquid refrigerantis delivered to the float controlled valve in the float chamber througha supply pipe and branch pipe 3|.4 A second branch 82 leads directly tothe receiver 40 so that if the float valve sticks or fails to work thevalve in the branch 82 may be opened and those in the branch 8| andpipes 43 and`44 closed, and the float chamber removed for repair oradjustment.

The control of the supply of refrigerant to the receiver is merely aconventional type and forms cooling apparatus includes a series ofsections or units each including a pair of inclined headers 46 and41which extends substantially from the top to the bottom of that portionof the air circulating chamber lying between partition 35 and ceilingplate I4. The headers 46 are adjacent to the wall 34 at the upper end ofthe chamber, and the headers 41 are adjacent to the wall 33 at the lowerend of the chamber. The lower end of each of the headers 4l and 41terminates in a vertical plane closely adjacent to the plane of theupper end of the next adjacent pair of headers. unit are connected by aplurality of pipes 50 having cooling ns 5I.r These pipes 50 of theseparate sections or units, viewed transversely as in Fig. 2, arearranged in separate parallel diagonal rows, with all of the pipesinclining downwardly that the ns of one pipe may clear the ns of theother, there is provided a much greater area of cooling surface with agiven number of pipes. 'Ihe lower headers 41 are all connected at theirlower ends by pipes 48 to a manifold 49 which receives liquid from thereceiver 40 through pipes 49a, and the upper headers 46 discharge theirgas and unevaporated liquid to the receiver 40 through pipes 45. Theevolved gases passing back into the receiver 40 are drawn off to thecompressor or absorber, for instance through a stand pipe 52 having itsupper end disposed above the liquid level in the receiver 40.

-It is necessary to defrost the pipes from time to' time and there areprovided drip p ans to receive the ice and water which drop from thecooling pipes during such defrosting. It will be understood that thedefrosting in an apparatus of this character may be accomplished simplyby shutting off the supply of refrigerant, waiting until all the liquidin the receiver has been drained out and evaporated, and then admittinghotgas through the pipe 53. One may if desired open the drain valve 53aof the manifold 49 and thus more rapidly withdraw the liquid refrigerantas well as any less volatile liquid which may be present. The hot gasloosens the ice which has formed on the cooling pipes and permits it tofall away by gravity.` 'I'he defrosting does not require any The twoheaders of each section or.

Cal

10 temperature of the drip pans which is normally far below the freezingpoint of lwater* so that the ice and water dropping from the pipesduring defrosting freezes almost instantly to thepans. The removal ofthe drip pans involves certain 15 diillculties because of the areacovered by them t .and the met thattne' entire :unit mtmtea in Fig. 3 ispreferably closely coniined within the Iwalls of the hardening roomand'- very long or large drip pans could not be pulled out from under`2o the pipes for emptying without materially inl-'- Y creasing the sizeof the hardening room. I In my improved construction; as bestillustrated inm Figs. '2 and 4 to 7, there are provided a plurality oflongitudinally extending sets of pans, each set con- 25 sisting of aplurality of pans detachably connectedA together sothat a single set maybe pulledout. the separate pansbeing detached in succession as theyemerge from beneath the pipes. Thus l there need be merely sumcientspace between the upper end of the hardening chamber and th'e wall ofthe room to permit one pan to be manipulated at a time. l

These sets of pans are indicated in top plan view in Fig. 4 and'forconvenience are designated 35 as sets A', B, C,.D and E. Each setconsists 'of a.`

plurality ofi pan units 60 and each pan .unit is divided transversely bypartitions 8| to prevent the ice and meltage from allcollecting in oneend of the inclined pan. Intransverse section it will -40 be observedthat the pans are provided with laterauy pared sides sj: dug. 6) andwith relatively ,narrow vertical portions 63 whichslide on guide. railsBla; To prevent drip between the laterally adjacentpan sets, `one edgeof each pan is pro- 3 vided with' an upwardly extending portion turned fover to provide a downwardly facing channel 6I which receives theupwardly extending flange 65 at the"adjacent edge of the pan of anadjacent set, Vthe channel Land thelip which enters it `5o guardingagainst any drip between pans.

Correepondingly the pans of each set are so 'interlocked with each otherthat there can be no 4drip between them, each pan at one end beingformed with a downwardly turned flange 68 (Fig.

:. 5) which hooks over the edge of an adjacent pan .and couples allthepans oftheset for unitary endwise movement. Preferably a handle 61 is'providedon the uppelmost pan of each set for conveniently draving thepan sets upwardly along G their inclined tracks Ma. As each pan ispulled beyond its supports `it is lowered 'to disengage it fromthe ange0l of the next pan and the latter is then pulled up and disengaged.

Inasmucli'authere is some danger of adjacentv .05 ts of pans' beingfrozen to each otherat the reonof channel and lip il, or frozen to their'supporting rails, lsuitable joggermechanism is provided for strikingfor lifting the pans -and breaking.V any frozen bond between pans ofadja- 70 cent sets.v This 1088? mechanism/ consists of M elongated rodsI8 of square cross section having rounded portions journaled in balls orretain.

. ing' wires- 10 attached to the frameworko! the machine.. f 75 Asillustrated 4,1 the reduced squared `ends 1| of these losser barsproject suililciently so that a crank may be applied to them foroscilfect disengagement of laterally adjacent `pans which may havebecome frozen together.

The system is so devised that the formation of frost is minimizedinsofar as possible. The only source of moisture is the air which mayenter the hardening chamber with the conveyer and the 10 moisture in theplastic bars of material which are carried bythe conveyer. No moisturewill be picked up from the body portions of the bars as they are wrappedwith paper or the like, but the material is exposed at the ends of thebars. With a view to preventing as far as possible moisture from beingpicked up from the ends of the bars by the circulating cooling air, itwill be observed that the ends of the bars 22. are protected rrm the anblast by a ciianne1 trame 1r carrying zo vthe conveyer. Thus the' airstream is notv blown against the ice cream exposed at the ends of the.bars. 'Ihe opposite ends-of the bars donot need to be protected sincethe air is blowing length- ,wise ,of the barsand past these ends and notagainst them.

While the operation of the apparatus will be in large measure apparentfrom the foregoing description it may be briefly recapitulated asfollowsz' v 4. Bars of enwrapped ice cream. are continuously placed onthe trough-like sections of the conveyer andv carried through the lowerportion of the hardening chamber. Air is continuously circulated in lthesubstantially closed path indicated bythe arrows in il.v The space above'the bars and below `the` nveyers is comparatively 40 thm so that thecom air is kept close to the bars Vand the iins on their carriers. Thethinness of air and a longer `time for the air tube cooled to l thedesired low temperature. 'Ihe inclination of the evaporating pipesinsures a continuous supply of refrigerant liquidat the lower ends and arapid removal ofthe evolved gas` at the upper ends. 'I'heinsulationbetween the upper and lower chambers prevents the bars orother material from being warmed up during defrosting. 5, As shown theconduits are arranged in planes at about 30 to the horizontal and eachconduit is inclined at an angle of about 10 to the horizontal.'r Byplacing the conduitsl in inclined planes there is a scrubbing actionbecause the airis deflected downwardly in `passing between adjaconduitsin the next plane. The area between conduits in any inclined plane is atleast equal 05 to the" vertical height of the chamber so .that-thereimay be free ilow of the air, but 'a repeated denection thereofand thus more intimate and forced contactI with the conduits and theirfins. Byinclining the conduits themselves there is produced a` washingeffect upon the inner surfaceof the conduits, that is, the-gas 'whichisproduced by` evaporation-within the finned conf f duits tends-to owrapidly to the upper ,ends of lthe conduits and during such upwardmovement be, more rapid escape of gas, but there is a higher.' statichead and a corresponding raising of the4 boiling point. Ifthe conduitsbe placed-horizontally the gas resulting from evaporation of 1;,4refrigerant in thevconduits causes gas plugs and the. conduits areoften practically empty of liquid along sections thereof.y This isparticularly true in the use of finned conduits where the heatabsorption due to the ns, together with the rapid n air circulation,produces a relatively high rate of evaporation per unit of internalsurface. Thus the placing of the conduits in inclined positions ininclined planes results in very high efficiency.

By reason ofthe inclined position of the planes l g and this spacing,the vertical spacing between the conduits may be comparatively slightand less thanthe diameter of the conduits, but the flow of the gaseousmedium will be impeded to the minimum.

'30 After defrosnng ofthe pipes, the ice and "liquid produced bydefrosting may be removed by pulling out the pan sets, one ata time anddumpingH one pan. at ,a time, then coupling the pans of such empty settogether as they are replaced, 3f, and sliding them home. This maybedone after the supply of hot gas has been shut off and the refrigerantliquid readmitted to the receiver and delivered from the bottom of thelatter to the lower manifold 49. 40 Having thus described my invention,what I .claim 'as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A refrigerating apparatus including a pair of, chambers, a conveyerfor advancing material 45 to be refrigerated through one of saidchambers,

Aa plurality of substantially parallel refrigerating conduits extendingtransversely in the other chamber and arranged in a plurality of planesextending diagonally across the chamber, and

50 means for circulating a gaseous medium through said chambers inseries and transversely of said conveyer and of said chambers.

2.- A refrigerating apparatus including. a pair of chambers, means forcirculating a gaseous me- .55 dium through lsaid chambers in series, aconveyer for advancing material to be refrigerated through one ofv saidchambers in a direction transverse vto that of the flow of gaseousmedium in said chamber, and a plurality of substantially parallel resofrigerating. conduits in the other chamber and extending transversely ofthe path of ow of the gaseousmedium and arranged in a plurality ofplanes at an angle tothe horizontal, the conduits in each-plane beingspaced apart to a distance "es greater -than the mamer of the planes,and the conduits in each plane being spaced vertically to a distancelessthan the diameter 'of the conduit.

3. A refrigerating apparatus including a pair of chambers, means forcirculating a gaseous me- 70 diumthrough said chambers in series, a.onveyer for advancing material to be refrigerated through one of saidchambers in a direction at right angles to the direction of ilow ofgaseous medium in said chamber, and a plurality of substantiallyparallel 'I5 refrlgeratingconduits in the other chambervand extendingtransversely of and substantially'paral-v extending transversely of thepath of ilow of the gaseous medium and arranged in a plurality-of planesextending diagonally across the chamber, and each of said conduits,being inclined in respect 4to the horizontal.

4. A refrigerating apparatus including a pair of chambers, means forcirculating a gaseous medium through said chambers in series, a conveyerfor advancing material to be refrigerated through one of said chambers,a plurality of substantially parallel refrigerating conduits in theother chamber and extending transversely of thepath f flow of thegaseous medium and inclined in respect, to the horizontal, a headerbelow said conduits for delivering a volatile refrigerant to the lowerend of each of said conduits, and a header above said conduits forreceiving the refrigerant sas therefrom. Y

5. A refrigerating apparatus including a pair of chambers, means forcirculating a gaseous me- 2,0

dium vthrough said chambers in series, a conveyer for advancing materialto be refrigerated through one'of said chambers transversely of thedirection of ow of said gaseous medium in said cham'- ber, a' pluralityof substantially parallel refriger- 25 ating conduits in the otherchamber and extending transversely of the path of flow of the gaseousmedium, each of said conduits being inclined in respect to thehorizontal, a receiver'adjacent to the upper ends of said conduits andconnected to said upper ends above the normal liquid level in thereceiver, a manifold connectedto the lower ends of said conduits,andmeans for delivering refrigerant liquid from said receiver to saidmaniy fold, said receiver having a liquid supply inlet and a gaseousoutlet.

.6. A refrigerating apparatus including a pair of chambers, means forcirculating a gaseous medium through said chamber in series, a conveyerfor advancing material to be refrigerated through 49 one of saidchambers, and a plurality of substantially parallel refrigeratingconduits in the other chamber and extending transversely of the path ofnow of the gaseous medium and arranged in a plurality of planesextending diagonally across the chamber, and each of said conduits beinginclined in respect to the horizontal, said conduits having heatabsorbing fins, the fins of each conduit terminating closely adjacentto, the fins of the adjacent conduits of the same' plane whereby 50 allof the gaseous medium circulated through said last mentioned chamber isforced to pass in intimate contact with said viins.

7. A refrigerating apparatus including a pairA of superposed inclinedchambers. a conveyer for advancing material through the lower chamberfrom the upper end toward the lower. aplurality of refrigeratingconduits inA the upper chamber lel to the plane of movement of :saidconveyer. and means for circulating a Agaseous medium through saidchambers in series and transversely of said conveyer and said conduits.`

8. A refrigeratlng apparatus' including a pair of superposed inclinedchambers, a conveyer foradvanclng material through the lower chamberfrom the upper end toward the lower, a plurality of refrigeratingconduits in the .upper chamber extending transversely of andsubstantially par- .m allel to the plane of movement of said conveyer,means for circulating a vgaseous medium through raid chambers -in seriesand transversely of said conveyer and said conduits, -a liquidrefrigerant vessel 'at substantially the elevation of the upper 75 endsof said conduits, and means for supplying refrigerant trom said receiverto the lower ends of said conduits. v

9. A refrigerating apparatus including a casing having a transversepartition dividing the same into a pair of superposed chambersinclinedin v respect to the horizontal, the lower chamber havingopenings adjacent to the upper end thereof,

said chambers in series and in a direction parallel to said bars.

10. A refrigerating apparatus including a pair of chambers, means forcirculating gaseous medium through said chambers in series, -an endless'l conveyer movable through one of said chambers and including closelyjuxtaposed trough shaped bars having ns extending lengthwise thereofupon the under side thereof, said bars extendingparailel to thedirection of ow of the gaseous medium in sam last mentioned chamber",and said conveyer being-movable to the direction of said ilow, and meansin the other chamber for refrigerating the gaseous medium.

11. A -refrigerating apparatus adapted to be 5 j encased to form part ofa closed air cooling system, said apparatus including a plurality ofheaders and a plurality. oi.' conduits connecting the headers in pairs.the'two headers of each pair being disposed at dierent elevations and atan 10 angle to theihorizontal and to the vertical, a

` manifold connected to all of the lower headers, a

liquid refrigerant receptacle at,a higher elevation than. said manifoldand connected thereto for the deliverysot liquidrefr'igerant to theupper 15 ends ot said conduits, and means for conducting I gas from theupper headers to'` said receptacle. 12. A reirigerating apparatusVIincluding a pair of superposed chambers connected at opposite sidestoform a closed circuit ',for a gaseous me- 20 dium, means for circulatingthe gaseous medium in said circuit, means in the upper chamber forchilling the gaseous medium, means for passing articles to berefrigerated through the lower chamber, the Wall between said chambersbeing 25 formed o! insulating material. Y

l CLARENCE vv. vom'.

